Reviews

A good conclusion to the original Pern trilogy. I always love being in this world, and this installment was no different. I think Anne McCaffrey absolutely excelled at creating wonder in her books. Exploring the southern continent was really fun. It was mysterious, adventurous, and political. I loved seeing the excavations of the old Pernese settlements and discovering "ancient" technology. I found it very interesting and a great expansion of the world. With every book in the series, we get to step back and see how much we've gone though and how much the world has been revealed, and this is a lot of the reason why I love sci-fi and fantasy.

That being said, I think that I am not alone in finding Jaxom to be quite annoying and he is very much my least favorite of the main characters we've read from so far. Obviously, a lot of that is intentional. He is transitioning from a boy to a young man throughout the course of the story, so a bit of bullheadedness is to be expected. I think that his desire to do everything by himself and in his own way made sense as he had grown up pretty isolated from a young age, not to mention knowing that he was born to hold Ruatha. This, however, became frustrating as time passed and he never really learned otherwise and was even rewarded for this behavior, which I thought was unfortunate. Additionally, the way he has to comment on every single female character's appearance and suitability for a relationship with him was just quite uncomfortable to read through his eyes and made me roll my eyes at him multiple times. Like, relax, bro. Just because you're a young Lord Holder doesn't mean every woman wants you.

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really loved the coming of age arc in this one and Ruth and Jaxom together having adventures. The audio with Dick Hill narrating is really worth listening to and makes a great backdrop to leisurely walks.

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